Who was Christ?
I came across an article titled “50 Groups/Individuals Jesus Says You Can Hate.”
What?!? Jesus said you could hate?
Well, that got my attention. I quickly clicked on the link and looked for the 50 items. To my surprise, every line, from number 1 to number 50, was blank. I thought the page was having a hard time loading so I refreshed it. But there it was again: 50 blank lines. Now, I know that at times I can be a little “slow”. This is mostly because I do not make hasty judgments so that I can initially process information at face value. It took me a moment but suddenly I got it. Duh …Of course, the lines are blank!
Matthew 5:43-45, King James Version (KJV): “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”
Christ NEVER preached hate. On the contrary, Christ was able to love completely because He chose NOT to be offended by a person’s negative behavior. So much so, He even made it a point to hang out with people who had faults. People whom the Pharisees considered the dregs of society: the drunks, the prostitutes, and the tax collectors. These religious bigots even publicly insulted Christ for the company He kept: “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34, NIV).
This is why Christ was sinless. He never took offense to people’s actions or their words. Christ taught people, healed them, and showed compassion to them. When another person was happy, Christ was happy. Christ truly loved them. In return, the people loved Him and followed Him. The only exception to Christ’s love and compassion were to the arrogant and self-righteous … the same scribes and Pharisees who accused Him of sin.
Christ Jesus was a friend of sinners because He knew the power of love. He knew that it is love that changes the hearts of people. Not finger pointing or blaming or judging.
Are you loving like Christ? Or are you prone to finding faults, placing blame, and judging people you call family and friends? Loving like Christ means living like Christ in both mind and action. Be Christ so “that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:45).
Mother Owl
